ORRVILLE, OHIO — As the J.M. Smucker Co. endeavored to recover from a product recall of Jif peanut butter, the company’s Uncrustables brand helped pick up earnings in the first quarter ended July 31.

In an Aug. 23 conference call with securities analysts to discuss first-quarter financial results, Mark Smucker, president and chief executive officer, expressed confidence in the Uncrustables brand and said Smucker is investing in facilities to step up production of its signature frozen sandwiches.

When questioned by an analyst about expectations for continued growth of Uncrustables through the remainder of fiscal 2023, Mr. Smucker replied, “Yes, we’re still very bullish on Uncrustables, and everything related to it in terms of production remains on track.”

As the company’s current operations haven’t been able to keep up with demand for Uncrustables, Smucker has engaged projects to expand production at facilities in Longmont, Colo., and McCalla, Ala.

“Completion of the Longmont, Colo., facility expansion is on track to provide increased production capacity in the back half of this fiscal year,” Mr. Smucker said. “Additionally, we have broken ground on our Uncrustables sandwiches facility in McCalla, Ala., which will further support capacity expansion as demand continues to exceed supply. We look forward to providing regular updates and progress on our path to grow Uncrustables sandwiches to a $1 billion brand in annual net sales.”

Net sales of Uncrustables frozen sandwiches in the first quarter topped $160 million, an increase of 30%, driven by “higher pricing and a return to double-digit volume/mix growth,” the company said.